1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is jet propulsion of ships and the utilization of jet water to reduce or eliminate primary bow waves, steer the ship, and control the roll attitude of the ship.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,353 discloses a water jet drive system for ships, the discharge ends of the jet tubes being located at the stern of the ship and being in axial alignment with the inlet ends of the jet tubes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,989 discloses a jet propulsion system for boats in which the jet is driven by a two-stage pump impeller. The water intake is flush with the hull bottom. This means that the pump impeller must overcome suction at the intake which consumes about one-half of the work energy exerted by the pump impeller.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,155,065 shows a jet propulsion system for ships, including stabilizer or anti-roll means. Deflection water for stabilization is sucked inward into the hull. In my system the anti-roll effect is obtained by the control of deflectors within outboard rearwardly directed side jets. Also, in my system, the water for the side jets is moved through divergent curved paths between inboard inlets and outboard outlets in such a way as to impart anti-roll or stabilizing forces to the ship.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,636,467 discloses an hydraulic jet propulsion system for ships. The jet passageway contains a shrouded, extended propeller of a notably inefficient design. The jet passageway is provided with a cone-shaped constrictor section astern of the propeller. In my system the constrictor and impeller sections are combined by mounting axial-flow low-loss impeller blades within driven constrictor shrouds.
Other patents of general interest are the following:
______________________________________ 4,051,801 3,276,415 4,031,844 3,266,733 3,969,891 3,155,071 3,930,367 3,137,265 3,826,218 3,114,239 3,782,320 3,105,353 3,589,325 3,082,732 3,482,402 2,832,305 3,465,705 2,664,700 3,388,684 1,800,408 3,342,032 1,543,026 ______________________________________